It is known to provide a display unit for confectionery items and the like which is formed of a series of compartments positioned above one another. These compartments may in some instances be held in position by a support structure which is typically constructed from a metal or plastics material. However, such units are relatively expensive to construct and must be restocked with items which are generally stored in additional packaging.
To overcome these issues, it is known to provide items in “shelf-ready packaging” (“SRP”) which can be used to transport, store and subsequently display the items without the need for an additional display unit. Furthermore, SRP is typically constructed from cartonboard or the like which reduces manufacturing costs. SRP of this type commonly includes a base and a cover removable from the base by tearing along perforations in the packaging material. When removed, the cover may be used as a stand on which the base may be placed to form the display unit. Furthermore, removing the cover provides an opening in the base to display items located therein.
In some examples of SRP, the cover may comprise an inclined surface on which the base sits. In this way, when the base is positioned on the cover it is angled with respect to a horizontal axis to better display items located within the display to potential customers. However, SRPs of this type are limited in the sense that the formed display unit is restricted to the angled configuration determined by the incline of the surface on the cover.
Furthermore, increasing the angle at which the containers in the display unit are positioned creates additionally stability issues, where the containers may become top heavy when stocked with items and therefore more likely to topple or where upper containers may slide relative to lower containers. It is therefore a requirement for any display unit comprising stacked containers to be sufficiently stable at the angle at which the containers are inclined. If the incline is to be varied, the stacked containers must be sufficiently stable at a range of angles. However, no solution has been provided which addresses this issue.
It is therefore an aim of an embodiment or embodiments of the invention to overcome or at least partially mitigate the problems associated with the prior art, or any other problem of vertically stackable packaging containers.